Controllable aromatic dispenser



March 14, 1950 DRAKE 2,509,896

CONTROLLABLE AROMATIC DISPENSER Filed March 9, 1948 IN ENTOR. 4W 5. M W v M %m/ Patented Mar. 14, .1959

urreo 1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to controllable aromatic liquid dispensers.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a dispenser for aromatic'liquids which will contain a supply of liquid andtmay "beconveniently disposed on a fan, air-register; or'the like, wherever there is a-current-of air, and will evaporate a desired and controlled amount of said liquidand disseminate it into said aircurrent;

A second object is to provide a dispenser and disseminator for aromatic liquids which has a case, having a container to hold a supply of said liquid, an inner evaporating compartment containing a wick for drawing liquid from said container to said evaporating compartment, and register mechanism for controlling both the entrance and exit of air from said evaporating compartment;

A further object is to provide a device as above mentioned, which may be conveniently disposed on objects of utility over which a current of air is passing within a habitation.

A further object is to provide a device, as above stated, with a wick which, while it normally draws liquid from said reservoir to said evaporating area, by capillary action, may be rotated, when desired, so that a freshly immersed and saturated portion thereof can be brought, at once, into said evaporative area;

A still further object is to provide suitable compact structure for sustaining the parts, above mentioned, rendering them efficiently operative and facilitating their manufacture and assembly.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

I attain the foregoing objects by means of the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of said device;

Figure 2, a side elevation thereof;

Figure 3, an elevation of the back face thereof;

Figure 4, an elevation thereof with the front portion of the case removed; and

Figure 5, a side sectional View taken substantially on line -5 of Figure 1.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts in the several views.

In the form here illustrated, the case 2 is composed of cupped drawn metal parts including a front portion 3 and a back portion 4 fitted together by an overlapping seam 5 along their abutting edges.

These parts are formed so there is a rounded 55 2 1 upper-"portion 6 "and. a substantially "squarebottom portion 1.

- iii/hen 'fitteditogether; the luppersportions form an evaporating area 1 IU- and -thei lower portions a reservoir 12. Both portions are punched centrally with holes 14 to admit and journal a' shaft i5. The upper portions of said case parts above this shaft are'perforatedbyanumber of holes I 6-, which are arranged to'formaan arcuateg'roup. The holes'or perforations in the: rear-case portion may be termed air entrance openings and those in the front case portion may be termed exit openings or vents.

Register or shutter disks [8 and [9 are each provided with a group of perforations on one half of their faces spaced and proportioned to register with holes It in the front and rear portions of the case 2. These disks are sized to match and cover the outer faces of each case part and are centrally punched with square holes to fit on shaft l5, which has a prismatic section, substantially square in this instance, with the edges 20 between the flats slightly rounded.

The rounded edges of the shaft bear in'round holes I i in the case parts, while the disks l8 and i9 are loosely splined on the shaft by their square holes.

The rear end of shaft I5 is peened over slightly to form a stop to retain rear disk I9. A knob 23 has a square hole and is fitted onto its front end. It is retained by set screw 24, and provided with a round counter bore 25 to house a spring 26 which bears on the front face of disk I 8 and in the bottom of the counter bore.

The action of this spring is to draw plate or disk l9 against the outer face of rear case part 4, and the plate or disk 18 against the front face of front case part 3. As assembled, therefore, when knob 23 turns shaft [5, both disks turn in unison and with their perforations I6 alined, and both register with and open or close corresponding holes in the respective case parts. When the disks on shafts l5 are turned thru 180 degrees the blank or unperforated parts 28 of disks l8 and I9 cover all the holes on the case parts 3 and 4 and completely close the evaporative area In.

A disk 30 of felt, or other similar fibrous material, constitutes a rotating wick. It is provided with a square hole 31 in its center to fit on shaft I5, and with perforations 32 throughout its entire face area. It is mounted on the shaft I5 with its upper portion within the evaporating area In and its lower part in reservoir l2. As mounted, it becomes a part of the rotatable assembly along with the disks l8 and I9 and knob 23.

In use, liquid aromatics are placed in case reservoir [2. The case is suspended in an air stream by bracket 33. Knob 23 is then turned to bring the lower moistened part of wick disk 30 to the top and into the evaporative area In. This also opens a number of holes in the case by registering with holes in disks l8 and I9. Air enters the evaporative area [0, takes up a portion of the liquid on wick 30, and then eXits thru the holes in the forward portion of the case. Since these aromatic liquids carry strong scents, the evaporation of only a small portion of the liquid is necessary to obtain the odor desired.

Since, also, the amount of aromatic scent necessary to mask, or balance out, unpleasant odors is always quite critical, the control of evaporation and dissemination, here provided, makes the device eminently serviceable for this purpose.

I realize that various changes and modifications may be made to the structure here shown, but that many such changes will still include the inventive precepts here disclosed.

Therefore, I wish to be limited only by the following claim.

I claim:

An aromatic dispenser, as herein disclosed, for mounting in a ventilating air stream, comprising a container case having a reservoir in its lower portion, and two fiat faces on its upper part; groups of air holes covering mating portions of respective areas of said faces; register plates having groups of air holes formed to mate said air holes on said case rotatably mounted on said case and bearing against said case faces; a shaft having a prismatic section, a peened stop at one end and a knob at the other end journalled in and extending transversely thru the upper part of said case, said register plates being loosely splined thereon; a spring on said shaft bearing against said knob and adapted to draw said plates against said case faces; and a Wick rotatably mounted on said shaft within said case and proportioned to extend into said reservoir and said upper portion.

ALFRED E. DRAKE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 538,845 Rich May 7, 1895 581,837 Walker May 4, 1897 1,380,208 Holtschneider May 31, 1921 1,989,787 Byrd Feb. 5, 1935 2,288,981 Viebrock July 7, 1942 

